Benefit Strategies

Avoid the HSA-Health FSA Compliance Collison

September 19th, 2019

“An employer best practice is to run the medical plan and the Health FSA concurrently. That way, employees can review changes in cost-sharing in medical plan each year to make the appropriate health FSA election. They usually can’t open their Health FSA mid-year to alter their elections to reflect changes in their projected out-of-pocket costs.”.. Read more

Take It to the Limit with an HSA and Limited Health FSA

December 27th, 2018

“If you want to pay this year’s expenses this year and enjoy immediate tax benefits, a HSA/Limited-Purpose Health FSA combination allows you to pay your bills and gain a tax advantage this year, rather than carry financial obligations or delay tax benefits into the future.” William G. (Bill) Stuart Director of Strategy and Compliance December.. Read more

Cadillac Tax Back in the Cross Hairs

December 7th, 2017

“Employers have no control over the amounts (other than to limit them altogether) that individual employees find necessary to meet their medical, dental and vision needs in a given year. Rational employers will terminate Health FSA and HSA programs if they must pay a tax equal to 40% of the total value of contributions into.. Read more

Choosing the Right Health FSA Extender

October 26th, 2017

“This flexibility is a strong argument in favor of using this approach when employees transition from traditional to HSA-qualified coverage. Employers and participants must be vigilant to ensure that they don’t make a mistake that negates an employee’s HSA eligibility for an entire 12 months.” William G. (Bill) Stuart Director of Strategy and Compliance October.. Read more

Understanding Health FSAs

October 12th, 2017

“There are three important ways employees benefit from participating in a Limited-Purpose Health FSA that employers should consider when reviewing whether to offer it: Additional tax savings, preservation of HSA funds and cash-flow advantages.” William G. (Bill) Stuart Director of Strategy and Compliance October 12, 2017 One of the more difficult concepts for benefits administrators.. Read more

Let’s Play “Fear Factor: FSA”

August 15th, 2017

“The real fear should be low elections that participants spend well before the end of the plan year. In that case, participants have no forfeited balances, but they lose money by paying for eligible items with after-tax funds once they exhaust their low elections. Psychologically, not gaining something (additional tax advantages, which result in more.. Read more

The FSA/HSA Misalignment Conundrum

July 7th, 2017

“An employee enrolled in both the HSA-qualified medical plan and traditional Health FSA is not HSA-eligible. She can enroll in the medical plan, but she can’t open an HSA or make any HSA contributions before the end of the Health FSA plan year at the earliest. (If she has an already existing HSA with funds in it,.. Read more

A Capitol Experience

June 22nd, 2017

“Today, the demographics of Health FSA and HSA owners are nearly identical – including family income. No longer is one account blue collar and one white collar.” William G. (Bill) Stuart Director of Strategy and Compliance June 22, 2017 I recently spent another day on Capitol Hill – my fifth trip this year to meet.. Read more

Hatching a Better HSA

April 13th, 2017

Sen. Hatch, left, and Rep. Paulsen During the past three years, we’ve seen a dramatic change, as a growing number of plans impose coinsurance after the deductible. This change increases members’ potential financial responsibility to as much as $6,550 for self-only coverage and $13,100 for family coverage – figures far above the $3,400 (self-only) and.. Read more

My Experiences on the Hill

March 2nd, 2017

An employer isn’t going to continue a program that saves an employee between 22% and 38% in taxes if the employer has to pay a 40% excise tax on that money. For a family with a $2,600 Health FSA contribution, that means a tax increase of $600 to $900 annually. By William G. (Bill) Stuart.. Read more

Category: FSAs